MOSCOW. 
same superstition which kept them fasting 
during Lent, had afterwards instigated them 
to the most beastly excesses. 
Even their religious customs are perfectly 
adapted to their climate and manners. No- 
thing can be contrived with more ingenious 
policy to suit the habits of the Russians. When 
Lent fasting begins, their stock of frozen pro- 
visions is either exhausted, or unfit for use; 
and the interval that takes place allows suffi- 
cient time for procuring, killing, and storing, 
the fresh provisions of the Spring. The night 
before the famous ceremony of the Resurrection, 
all the markets and shops of Moscow are seen 
filled with flesh, butter, eggs, poultry, pigs, 
and every kind of food. The crowd of pur- 
chasers is immense. You hardly meet a foot- 
passenger who has not his hands, nay his arms, 
filled with provisions ; or a single drosky that 
is not ready to break down beneath their 
weight. 
The first ceremony which took place, pre- 
vious to all this feasting, was that of the Pdque 
.fleuries, or Palm Sunday. On the eve of this 
day the inhabitants of Moscow resort, in car- 
riages, on horseback, or on foot, to the Kremlin, 
for the purchase of palm-branches, to place 
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